Gay Men’s Influence on Fashion, Style and Popular Culture

Popular culture is consistently evolving. There are a lot of influences on what is considered fashionable and stylish at any 1 time. Some tend to dominate, nevertheless. And 1 growing trend is the effect of gay male sensibilities on a lot of aspects of mainstream culture including films, television and fashion. No longer on the margins of mainstream culture, gay men are typically making its rules.

Take the breakout show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. This entertaining television program took the (often true!) stereotype of gay males being a lot more fashion conscious, cultured and aesthetically adept than straight males and produced it the central concept. These witty gay men ran amock, giving advice to clueless straight guys on everything from their selection of swimwear to their behavior with the opposite sex. The show was a large hit in the USA and globally, and even spawned localized versions in diverse countries.

There are other, a lot more general examples. Take the gay ideal of masculinity, which has a focus on excellent grooming and physical fitness. Whilst gay male icons are typically Adonis like, their heterosexual counterparts have long been able to get away with being less than fit and at times downright slobby. But this appears to have changed in recent years.

A couple of recent “sword and sandal” epics illustrate this well. In Troy, both main stars (Brad Pitt and Eric Bana) had been fitter, stronger and far more muscular than in any of their prior roles. A comparable look was required for the movie 300 about Spartan warriors. All of the principal actors, as well as the extras, had clearly spent a lot of time at the gym. The star, Gerard Butler, followed a punishing training regime for four months prior to filming, typically working out with a nicely identified body builder.

1 wonders how several of the original Spartans would have looked so buffed. They undoubtedly didn’t have the benefit of digital blood sugar monitors, isometric gym equipment, protein bars and all the rest. (Thought they would have been far more lethal, of course!)

Compare these films with the Roman epics of the fifties and sixties. In films such as Ben Hur and Spartacus physical perfection was not practically as important. Stars such as Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas and Charlton Heston were surely fit, but hardly the perfect physical specimens we’ve seen parading across the screen lately.

The evolving character of James Bond is an additional case in point. Sean Connery, the original movie Bond, was a masculine icon. He had an imposing physique and was hairy chested. He surely wasn’t overweight, but he wasn’t toned either. While he did get around in his swimming trunks in at least one film, this was as a lot to serve the plot as it was to give the females some thing to ogle.

Then there was Roger Moore. Even though he was dapper and stylish, he was not quite athletic. He was most comfy in a suit, and seemed to have an aversion to swimwear.

The newest Bond, Daniel Craig, is much more fit and muscular than any of his predecessors. He’s possibly been training with Gerard Butler! In 1 purely ornamental scene in Casino Royale he rises from the surf to display his (hairless) barrel chest and washboard stomach. Needless to say, when dressed he’s constantly wearing the most stylish attire.

It’s fascinating that these are all large spending budget movies that are produced appeal to a broad demographic. They are guy films not gay films. Yet the action men in them look fit, sleek and frequently fashionable while killing all the bad guys. Whilst the rising influence of gay male aesthetics isn’t the only reason for this phenomenon, it is undoubtedly a major factor.